Page 109 of Mortal Shift
“And what does the mead cost?”
“Let us not worry ourselves about such trifling matters.”
I snorted. “It’s freely given, then, without any expectation of recompense?”
His smile faltered into a frown and he wiped his hands on his grimy pants irritably.
“Learned a thing or two at the academy then, did you?” he asked with a loud sniff.
“I learned your kind likes to prey on mine, yeah. And I learned that nothing from the fae is ever free.”
“Well, what do you want, then? I don’t have time to waste on humans who aren’t interested in my hospitality."
“I need a portal,” I said. “To Cole’s packlands.”
“Oh?” He rubbed his hands together, greed lighting up behind his eyes. “And how will you be paying for that?”
“Cole will pay.”
“I don’t see him here.”
“Cole will pay next time he’s passing,” I clarified, and the fae’s eyes narrowed.
“You wouldn’t be planning to cheat me now, would you?”
“No.”
“No? Then why isn’t your mate here, and why didn’t he send payment with you?”
“I’ll tell you in exchange for the portal,” I said and the fae laughed scornfully.
“You think your trifling gossip is worth the price of my magic?” He shook his head emphatically, and then cocked it, eyeing me with speculation. “What else do you have to barter?”
I had nothing but the clothes on my back, and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t be interested in those. And I didn’t have any of those little crystals Cole had traded last time. Which meant I basically had nothing. Aodh read the answer in my face.
“Back on your way, then,” he said. “I don’t do charity.”
“No, wait. There has to be something I can trade.”
“A favor,” he said, and prickling ice crept up my spine. I shook my head.
“No. No favors.”
Aodh shrugged. “No skin off my nose. The door’s that way.”
Shit. If I left without getting to Cole’s pack, then everything we’d done tonight was for nothing. And I didn’t know anyone else with the power to slow down the council’s judgement than his father. The guy might be an asshole, but he was a powerful asshole, and I had to believe he wouldn’t let his only son be executed—to protect his pack’s reputation, if nothing else.
“What kind of favor?” I asked reluctantly.
“Oh, nothing you wouldn’t be able to repay.”
“No doubt,” I said dryly. “But I’m not about to trade my soul for a trip through a portal.”
“It’s not your soul I have an interest in, sweetheart.” Abruptly, he smiled. “But it needn’t be such a heavy price. I won’t demand your life or your years in repayment.”
“Just one year then?” I asked acidly, arching a brow. His smile widened.
“You’re smart. I like you. Okay, I’ll tell you what. I won’t claim your life, nor your friends’ lives, and any favor I ask of you will be task-based, not time-based. Can’t say fairer than that.”
